


A Royal Pain

by DaughterOfTheMurderHusbands



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [2]
Category: A Royal Affair (2012), Ella Enchanted (2004), Hannibal Extended Universe - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Cheating, Death, M/M, Sad, Tumblr Prompt, Unrequited Love, its sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 15:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7178570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaughterOfTheMurderHusbands/pseuds/DaughterOfTheMurderHusbands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charmont always loved to travel, to see new places and learn from new cultures. Being the youngest of too many brothers he knew he had no chance to become king, and he didn't want to, he was contempt with his life and the freedom it gave him. Freedom to move around, to see the world, to meet people and daydream about never coming back.</p><p>Until Johann.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Royal Pain

Charmont always loved to travel, to see new places and learn from new cultures. Being the youngest of too many brothers he knew he had no chance to become king, and he didn't want to, he was contempt with his life and the freedom it gave him. Freedom to move around, to see the world, to meet people and daydream about never coming back.

That until he meets Johann. Johann, such a brilliant mind, such a revolutionary thinker. He seemed like a simple man at first but his serious silent ways actually hide so much more. Charmont sees him every day, playing with the king like kids, moving his treads like a puppet, convincing him they both want the same things. Molding the world into his own image. It's both intriguing and almost scary to watch.

He is nice to him, but they all are. Charmont does not care for the rest of them, nor the king, basic as he is. Nor the queen, with her ethereal beauty and eternal patience to overcome whatever humiliation her husband puts her through, she is a good wife, trained well since childhood. And she is smart, smarter that her husband and that any man in her court. No. He doesn't care for them, he only cares for Johann. 

It's funny to think about love. The mere idea comes at ease when you are a child, it's something you either grow up with or you totally miss, if you missed it then you'll never do it right. Maybe there is no proper way to love, but there are wrong ways to do it. 

Then you move on from family bonds and find love in others, that is where the thing gets really tricky. Love is always unexpected. There are also people who you should never fall for. Yet you do it anyway.

It was unexpected to find himself in love with Johann, to spend every waking moment thinking of him, aching for him. For the days when they practice swordsmanship in the foggy gardens. Or those long horse rides when they talk about Charmont's kingdom. He wants to show him, everything. The dancing elves, the giants. Johann would never believe him, he is a man of science, a man of reason, a man of change. He won't be interested in such a fairy tale setting, he has bigger ideas in mind.

This country has to change, they both agree on that, he might be young and even naive, but he knows when people are unhappy, in fact only the king is blinded of this. Charmont couldn't care less. Obsessed ad he is with making Johann his and his alone. 

He tries, he really does. A gentle touch, a shared laugh in the middle of the night, an invitation to join him, but he never does. He knows he is good looking, and everyone seems to love his cheerful personality, his discrete cleverness. But not even the softness of his ways or the sensual nature of his proposals seems to attract the man.

And then it happens. It's just a glimpse, but he would never miss Johann's figure, lurking in the darkness of the castle, when the night has taken over and silence is the only real ally you have. He was not meant to be awake, nobody was. Johann is not fully dressed, he might as well be naked, he is not going out.

Charmont follows him to a tower over the kitchen, silent as a shadow. Johann is confident of his solitude, he never even looks back, he clearly knows the way, he's done this before, many times before. There is a little key hidden underneath a loose brick and then more steps, then light, candles or maybe a fire, coming from under a big sturdy wooden door.

He saw the signs. The smiles, they way he looked at her, the way words filled the space between them with no need for them to talk. He knew, he was sure others knew too, not the king. He was so sure he had an accomplice, maybe even a true friend in Johann. Charmont knows how hard those are to come by. He also knows what this might do to them.

The queen is there, as bare as Johann is, Charmont wants to leave, but he won't, he will stay and look mesmerized as they kiss and when they do he will finally break the spell and looks away. It's a sword to the chest, a pain so big he can only hope one day he will be able to let go of it and move on. He probably won't. It was a foolish dream. 

He could take him away, take him with him. He is no king, but he could give Johann enough power to make things better for his people with his clever ideas and selfless endeavors. He could, but now he knows better. He is too young and too pure (if that is even possible) to be loved like an adult. And too smart to get in the way.

He knows what comes next, and he runs off. In every way. He want's to go back now. Even if it is sooner than he is expected to. To being the youngest prince, the happy one, the free one. But he is forever tied to what he feels. 

As his carriage is prepared he manages to walk near Johann and whisper:

"I saw you." He states. Johann looks at him with little to no interest. "With the queen, at the tower." That sure gets his attention. But he is always in control of his emotions.

"I won't tell, but I am only the first one to find out."

"Why won't you tell? You own no loyalty to our king, or to me"

"I know what it is to love an impossible," He said, chocolate curls brushing his face in the morning breeze. "You can go away now before is too late."

"I can't go. I will be more careful"

"You will die..." Even in his kingdom such an offense is considered treachery and punished with dead. 

"You are keeping our secret, to the point of going away, there is no need to..."

"I love you" He spits out, he is as shocked as Johann with this revelation. He is no longer walking, Charmont stops a few steps after, eyes wet with the certainty of loss. "I know you will never love me back, I do. I know you won't leave with me even if I asked you, so I won't. But I also know that this path you are in can only lead one way. I do not intend to see it unveil. I don't want to witness your fall and your death."

"You have a gloomy certainty of my fate."

"When things are forbidden they are the most appealing. But you can only expect the consequences of your actions to catch up with you eventually. We all have sins we need to pay for. I will pay for my silence."

"I thank you for your feelings, your majesty"

"Don't, they aren't worth a thing. Good Luck, Johann, goodbye"

He doesn't need to read the letter addressed to him a few months after that, everyone in the castle knows about the bloody ending of those who betrayed the kingdom's newest business ally. 

He no longer wishes to travel. 

He doesn't feel free, he feels heavy and sore.

He is not free anymore, he is tied to someone who he will never see again.  
Even after he dies, he is most certainly not who Johann would like to meet.

**Author's Note:**

> I published this at Tumblr, but forgot to post it here, its short and angsty, I am so sorry.  
> I was based on a gifset I made of Charmont finding out about Johann's Royal Affair.


End file.
